Well, hello my peacocks! I have my next chapter which I just wrote out so very quickly because I realised I'd gotten distracted and watched tv for 3 hours, played my guitar for 1 hour and... done something else for that last hour... wait hang on I wrote for the last hour :D haha... And so yeah, I once again have forgotten to do my homework. Four sheets of Japanese homework are waiting for me (glares at the homework) and a four movies are waiting to be watched, one book to be read, and all of them need to be written about (double death stare) and I probably should practise my saxophone... BUT INSTEAD I WAS DEVOTED AND WROTE THIS CHAPTER! Haha. I got a bit distracted towards the middle. At first I was trying to fill a certain part with 1,000 words and then I realised that I wouldn't fit all that I wanted to fit into this chapter but oh well :):) Okay.

And I'm going to put this on all my stories because it's happened a little bit...

I've told a few of you nice reviewers that I would go and read your stories and review about two weeks ago, right? And you haven't got any reviews from me, right? I'm sorry :D I haven't gotten around to it yet! I've just been writing like mad in my free time and I've needed a bit of relaxing or something. And then I've gone to read you peoples stories and I've seen how amazing they are and it makes me feel terrible so I stop reading because if I feel terrible (because I suck at writing) I will stop writing and I reallllly need to finish a story since I haven't written a story in about a year. But once again, I apologise! You should ALL hear from me one day soon. Just not tomorrow. Tomorrow is Friday :)

Okay, well, without further ado I present to you, Sam's chapter... I may have made a few mistakes, if there are any really bad ones in there please tell me...

Vortex of Deception

Chapter Eight

Jessica had spent her entire afternoon wandering aimlessly around the small village that she had lived in before she had been attacked by a ghost. Well, according to her sister Isabelle. Not one bit of this village had she found familiar, not one place that she instinctively knew. If there was a particular place that she wished to visit she would have to ask one of the locals. And of course, she didn't recognise a single face in the crowd.

The village was small yet the population consisted of five hundred people, which she had been told was a lot. After all, out in the normal world they would have only fifty people located in such a small place. Due to the size of the village there was constantly a crowd wherever Jessica went. Everywhere, that is, except for the forest.

There was a mysterious forest located off to one side of the village – a forest that she was forbidden to enter. It looked as though it was haunted by some angry spirit – either that, or it had been assaulted by an out of control forest fire. The trees were all blackened and burnt, the vegetation lifeless and miserable. Even if it wasn't prohibited, Jessica would hate to enter this forest.

There were a few public huts where villagers could gather to pick up supplies – she had been told that this village had no type of currency and that everything was free – and plenty of meeting places. There was a public bathhouse – it was unisex – and even a relaxation hut where you could be pampered by those who volunteered inside. But other than that, there weren't many other wooden shacks.

No one owned their own little house, though. They all lived in one large wooden building in small rooms quite like Jessica's. This had all been told to her by a kind villager who had seen her looking around herself, quite confused. He had led her on a tour through the entire village – which had taken less than five minutes – and then had left her to stand by herself.

The sun seemed to be setting because the sky was turning a pale peach colour. She wasn't able to confirm her prediction though as there were many tall trees surrounding her on every side. It was if the entire village was completely isolated from the entire world. She felt slightly like she was being kept prisoner. I'm being stupid, she told herself sternly and began to laugh shakily.

She spun around as she heard a twig snap behind her. She had found a nice peaceful area where she could be left undisturbed, a place where there weren't any crowds. But the only reason that no one was there was because they were all preparing for the evening meal around the bonfire. It was a tradition, according to that villager. She would be expected, but she wouldn't have to show up until the sky became black and the stars unveiled themselves.

"Who's there?" She asked, her voice sounding small and weak. She received no answer – there wasn't even the sound of someone shifting nervously or a footfall of an approaching being. It had gone completely silent. She knew that she hadn't imagined the sound of the twig cracking, though.

She turned back to face the nearby forest yet she looked out of the corner of her eye to try to catch her sneaky follower in the act. Surely enough she saw a shadow move behind her and there was a gentle swish of grass as the person crept behind better cover. She was careful not to let them know that she had spotted them – she didn't know what their purpose was yet, or who they were. If she let on that she knew more than they thought, she could be killed. She decided to follow her instincts and keep quiet.

That had been one thing she had discovered on her first day out of bed – despite the fact that she had been allowed to explore the village on her own, she was never truly alone. She had always had the strange feeling that someone had been following her, that someone was always watching her every move. And she was right – they were.

With a sigh she turned around and headed back to the main cabin where her bed was awaiting her worn out body.

She sat around the campfire, feeling quite awkward as she looked around at all the gaping faces. Izzy sat on her right and her mate whose name she still could not remember sat on her left. These were the only two familiar faces out of the whole town – excluding the man she had met earlier and her physical trainer – and it was only because she had met them since waking up. There were no memories of them locked away in her mind. At least, none that she could find.

Izzy lifted her goblet triumphantly without spilling any of the rich red wine that it held. "I would like to propose a toast to my darling little sister," she declared as her face was lit up with a heartfelt smile. "We've missed you oh so much Jessica and are thankful that you have found your way back to us. It is our hope that you will soon be back to your old self and will regain all of your memories."

The crowd cheered as those old enough to drink the luxuriously sweet wine took a sip from their goblets – you had to have lived to see fourteen summers to do so. Jessica looked hesitantly at her drink and wrinkled her nose as the aroma hit her. She looked to the others and saw that they were gazing at her expectantly, waiting for her to take a drink. She reluctantly raised the cup to her parted lips and drank a small mouthful. She almost choked on the wine – it was bitter and unpleasant. Everyone else seemed to like it, though.

"Thank you for being so kind," She whispered shyly as she looked down at the flickering fire. The heat that was radiating off of it was causing a sweat upon her delicately pale skin. "All of you."

"Oh, Jessica." It was her mate once again.

Is that all he can say, my name? She scorned him bitterly before she realised that she was doing it. For some reason, she didn't feel attracted to him. She didn't feel as though he should be the one that she would be wed to. And she definitely didn't feel that she was in love with him.

He placed a hand beneath her chin and turned her head so that she was looking into his eyes. Oh, but his eyes are so interesting… they're drawing me in… she blinked a few times before looking away. It was as if his eyes were placing a spell on her. Stop being foolish. That is both impossible and idiotic.

He leaned closer to her face and smiled lovingly at her. He truly cared about her, yet she found herself slightly repulsed by that idea. She was stringing him along when she knew that her heart didn't belong to him. But who could it possibly belong to? Yet another question that was to go unanswered.

"I love you," he whispered so that only she was able to hear.

She felt his lips press against hers and waited for the excitement that she had felt in her body last time that he had kissed her. It never arrived. His soft lips pushed at hers passionately and she responded only to be courteous. She officially had no romantic feelings for this man – if she did it would probably be easier for her to remember his name. She had been told it continuously but not once had she remembered it for more than five minutes.

She pulled away before he could deepen the kiss, reluctant to continue making contact with him. She felt slightly overwhelmed by all of this – the disappearance of her feelings, the traditions she was so unused to, the different faces and most of all, her non-existent memories. She picked herself up from the log that she sat upon, leaving the area surrounding the campfire.

She heard footsteps approaching her – these did not sound suspicious – but didn't look up. She felt a curious solemnity creeping over her. She neither felt glad nor sad and the reason behind her feelings was unknown. She needed time to mull something over – though it would really help her if she knew just what that something was. What was it that bothered her?

"Jessie," It was Izzy. "What's wrong?"

She looked to her older sister as Izzy took a seat beside her upon the slightly damp grass, her skirts spread out around her. She wondered if she should voice her thoughts to someone she should trust but found herself suspicious of. "I don't know," she confessed. She wasn't going to tell her the whole truth – that she did not love the one she was to be wed to – but she would talk to Izzy.

"Ah," her sister seemed uninterested. "Can't help you with that."
"What is a union of two like, and what does it entail?" Jessica asked quickly before her sister could stand up and leave her. If that had happened, she wouldn't have had the courage to ask the question at a later time.

Her sister smiled kindly. "Oh, it is a beautiful day. The night before there are a few rituals that we women must perform, of which I will speak to you at a later time when it is more relevant. On the morning of your union, you are to be purified in a private bath. We will outfit you in only the best – for you are my younger sister – and then the ceremony shall commence.
"You must write out a short speech of your feelings and your pledges to Jonathon," there it was, the name of the person she was supposed to be in love with. "And we will have the village leader, my partner, lead this ceremony. Afterwards you and Jonathon will be led to our room for the newly united. Once there you will enjoy a romantic evening during which a child will hopefully be conceived, so that you can increase the population of our village." Izzy finished explaining the process.

Jessica blushed. She didn't want to conceive a child with that man. But then another thought, another question, came to her mind. "Why are you childless, sister? When were you and the leader united?" she was curious.

Izzy turned her head away from Jessica. "I was unable to conceive a child." She answered simply, allowing a small amount of bitterness to creep into her voice.

"Oh," she muttered, unsure how to respond to such a statement. Should she apologise for being so intrusive? "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Izzy's mood was once again light and flippant – she seemed to have locked those darker thoughts of hers into another part of her mind, a part that she would confront at a later time. "Was there anything else that you wanted to know?"

Jessica had to think over it for a moment. "What happens after the union? How will my life change..?"

"It won't change dramatically until further down the track," Izzy assured her. "But hopefully you will be carrying a child, so you will be taken care of by the local midwives. You and Jonathon will occupy a joint room liked all of the other wed couples but it will not be any bigger than the room that you are already inside. You will not be allowed to be in the presence of other men unless accompanied by a female or Jonathon. I'm pretty sure that is all for the moment. If Jonathon has any other desires, he will so tell you."

"Is there a way to… prevent myself from conceiving a child?" Sam didn't like the idea of getting into the same bed with the man, let alone taking her clothes off and giving herself over to him fully. She didn't want any part of him inside her. But the thought of birthing his child was even more unappealing.

Izzy laughed as if Jessie was making a hilarious joke. "Oh, don't be silly!" she cried out in delight. "Why on earth would you want to do that?"

"No reason." Jessie mumbled to herself, disappointed.

"Ah, there you are."

The voice was unfamiliar and belonged to a male. Both Izzy and Jessica looked up as they heard the owner of the voice approach them. It was an old man – a man about thirty summers older than her sister. Jessica had a rotten feeling in her stomach as Izzy leapt to her feet.

"Oh, I didn't realise you were coming!" She stuttered as she joined hands with this man and placed small, gentle kisses upon his face.

"Neither did I," he admitted cheerfully before turning towards Jessica.

"Oh, how rude of me!" Izzy cried shakily. "I forgot to introduce you. Jessica, this is my mate and our village leader, Ollie."

Jessica didn't reply – she was too shocked to even nod her head to acknowledge her sister's words. She had noticed something about the man that her sister was in love with, something unpleasant and foul. It was extremely suspicious.

This man was a ghost.

That seemed strangely very short, even though it is my average chapter length - 2,300 words ish. Either that, or my word count is stuffed up. Ah well.
Oh wow I have an amazing announcement!

Okay, so get this. In an average book there is between 80,000-120,000 words, okay? And in the past two weeks, guess how many words I have written? 90,000! I'm so close to reaching the 400,000 mark on the "total words archived" bit! I was actually shocked. I have been writing on and off for the past year, mainly random stories involving Vampires and Elves and Vampire Elves (I admit that I am obsessed) But I've never written much. For some reason, Danny Phantom fanfiction is so easy to write. But anyway, there is my amazing accomplishment! And my average words has gone up 2,000 words :) Which is good since each time I update it goes up about 80 words... But yay!

Oh such a shame I must turn off my computer in two minutes. But I will write Fenton to Phantom tonight before I go to sleep because then I might be able to write two chapters for tomorrow. And then I'll be closer to finishing that story (it has a max. of hopefully 5 chapters to go) and then I will have more time to work on this story and Changing Their Fate :) And that will be good. And when I have finished these two, I will rewrite more of my other stories. I had a few good ideas, but man... the writing is terrible (cringes and drops dead).

Oh and guys? If you're reading this story... Does ANYONE at all know of any REALLY GOOD thriller MOVIES?! I have to do a genre study, and I chose thriller and I can't decide on my movies. It can't be the Bourne Identity or Silence of the Lambs (I am analyzing the books) but if anyone has any suggestions I'm taking them! Also, fantasy movies (that's my next genre study). So, if anyone feels up to submitting some movie titles, PLEASE! I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL!

Oh my god. I haven't had coffee tonight. WHAT THE HELL!? THE LAST SENTENCE DISAPPEARED AGAIN! IT ALWAYS DOES THAT :'( I HAVE LOST MANY GOOD CLIFF HANGERS BECAUSE OF THAT! Okay. I want coffee but I'm staying away from it I only had a little bit this morning. But I'm going to go and turn my coffee machine on right now so I can make some coffee and freeze it :) It's always better when it's cold.... for me. Oh, damn, I'm in a chatty mood and I must leave. Farewell for now, my people! I'll talk to you later :) Next update comes in 2-3 days (I hope).

GOODBYE MY FELLOW... I'm hungry... MY FELLOW HUNGRY LITTLE CHILDREN!